LONG Island MP Loretta Butler Turner said she is surprised by the government’s apparent struggle to secure a headliner for the inaugural carnival, adding that this reinforces her belief that efforts should have focused on capitalising on Junkanoo, the country’s greatest cultural expression.

FOREIGN Affairs and Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell will offer a defence of this country’s human rights record and immigration policies during a special, high-level meeting of the United Nations’ Human Rights Council in Geneva, Switzerland, tomorrow.

FORMER Free National Movement Deputy Leader Loretta Butler Turner lamented the fact that women are “underrepresented” in the House of Assembly and Cabinet, as she urged political parties to help create an environment of inclusion that will prompt more women to run for public office.

NATIONAL Security Minister Dr Bernard Nottage has claimed that one doctor allegedly provided 69 prison officers with sick notes in one day and that the doctor in question was not in office on the day the notes were written.

PRIME Minister Perry Christie yesterday opened the 26th Inter-Sessional CARICOM meeting laying out several strong expectations of commitments from heads of government, chief among them a regional investment in development of human capital.

FOREIGN Affairs and Immigration Minister Fred Mitchell said the Immigration (Amendment) Bill 2015 tabled in Parliament on Wednesday to grant resident belonger permits was not necessary to support the government’s newly implemented and controversial restrictions.

DEPUTY Prime Minister Philip “Brave” Davis yesterday criticised Baha Mar executives saying they have not been co-operative in the continuing dispute over more than $19m for the construction of the West Bay Street diversion and Corridor-7 road projects.